It’s a bold step to become a freelance copywriter, but the freedom, flexibility, sky’s-the-limit earning opportunities, and sense of fulfillment are hard to match. To help you negotiate contracts that will be advantageous for both you and your clients, we polled freelancers from a variety of industries. Read on to get their recommendations.

Cancellation clause

Aside from rates, it's very important to outline ownership and/or copyrights. For example, I did a photoshoot for an agency and they have access to my photos. I clearly outlined in the contract the photos are my property but I give permission to publish them as long as I'm credited.

It's also important to understand and outline what the client is expecting and what you can deliver. If my client and I agree to 5 edited photos of 10 models then that's what I deliver. If I know I cannot deliver what they want then we negotiate until we both agree and that goes into the contract. This makes both parties aware of what to expect and eliminates any surprises.

Adding onto that, you need to have a clearly defined timeline of what will happen and when said things will happen. If I give my client a turnaround time of two weeks I need to make sure I can deliver.

There are many other things needed in a contract, but something I always include is a cancellation clause. As much as both parties are committed, sometimes things happen. This is to protect everyone. If I break the contract for any reason there have to be ramifications. (Whether rescheduling at a lower rate, etc.) The same applies if the client were to break the contract.

Things that must be defined clearly

Based on my experience as a freelance digital marketer, these are the things that must be defined clearly in a freelance contract:

1. Role
The contract must stipulate the deliverables, deadlines, and responsibilities correctly. It must match the payment terms and milestones that both parties agreed on.

2. Payment terms
The output quality is often affected by apprehension on how credible the buyer or client is. Hence, asking for 25-50% payment upfront is acceptable. Also, the contract must include decisions regarding unforeseen expenses and delays.

3. Ownership
As a freelancer, building your portfolio by placing your previous works is not acceptable unless your client permits you to include materials that do not affect their business. Nevertheless, it never hurts to ask the client or the buyer.

Aside from rate – rights, crediting and portfolio use.

I'm always paying careful attention to how rights are transferred when a project finishes. I usually work for hire, so the client will own all the work at the end of a job. However, I nearly always negotiate a license to use the work, the client name, and public marketing materials for the product. Using past work to promote myself and my studio is a HUGE part of how I get new clients and sell the value of our services.

Along with the ability to use work for promotion on my side, I try to contractually guarantee to credit on or in the product, whether that's packaging, instruction manuals, or a footer or about page on a digital product. That way, the product itself works as a marketing tool if someone in the market for a freelancer is looking at it. As a bonus, that serves as a piece of “proof” that my portfolio is real – potential clients can verify past projects by looking at the final product. This isn't always possible, but my studio charges a higher fee for uncredited work.

Something new I've been trying on select projects is offering clients a discount for going beyond the minimum on crediting — if they include our logo at a minimum size in a prominent place, they receive a small discount on their final invoice.